Mounting for cover plates for switches and receptacles



Jan. 12, s1932. H. HUBBELL 1,840,582

MOUNTING FOR COVER PLATES FOR SWITCHES AND RECEPTCLES original Filed April 5, 1926' I ation/wus Patented Jan. 12, i932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE HARVEY H'UBBELIJ, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT; LOU'IE E. HUBBELL EXECUTBIX OF SAID HARVEY HUBBELL, DECEASED MOUNTING FOR COVER PLATES FOB zSITIJICB'ES AND BECEPTACIES Original applicationviiled April 5, 1926, Serial No. 99,782. Divided and this application illed. 'January 19, 1927. Serial No. 162,024.

This invention relates to an electric Wall appliance such as a flush switch or a iush receptacle, and has for an object to provide an improved means for mounting-the cover or finishing plate in connection with the electrical appliance, such as a liush swi't'ch or flush view, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, similar reference characters being employed throughout the various figures to indicate corresponding elements. In these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an installation involving my invention, a portion of the cover plate being broken away to more clearly show a vportion of the supporting plate.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the installation Asubstantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 but showing the electrical device in elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail section through'the cover and supporting plates substantially on line` 3-3 of Fig. 1.

1Fig. 4 is a plan view of the supporting p ate.

Fig. 5 is a detail section` through a portion of the cover and supporting plate showing in eration thereo y. v p Fig. 6 ,is a plan view of this clip looking elevation one of the spring clips for mountiing the cover plate and also showing' the opfrom the right of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a detail section of the loose mounting between theelectrical device the wall of the outlet box.

resents the finishing portion of the wall including the plastering, lathing and so forth.

Mounted in the wall recess in any suitable manner is a wall outlet box 13 which is of the usual metal construction and is mounted in position, in the present instance, by means of brackets 14 secured to the ends of the box by screws 15 and' to the wooden elements 10 and 11 by the screws 16. The portions of these brackets secured to the walls of the box are usually provided with slots for the screws 15 so that there is. certain adjustment available for the box to position it the proper distance from the face of the wall. The box is' provided with the usual ears 17 for mounting the electrical device.

In the drawings, I have shown a receptacle 18 adapted for use with the usual attachment plug cap, but it will, of course, be understood that this mounting is equally adapted fo use with any of the usual types of wall switches. The electrical device is connected to the house wiring system by the usual leadsv 19 passing intothe box from the conduit 20.

Theelectrical device includes and is supported by a yoke 21 which projects from the upper and lower sides of the device and has openings or slots 21 adjacent its outer ends for passageof the screws 22 threaded imo the ears 17 of the wall box. In mounting the electrical device in the box these screws are not clamped tight, orthat is, are not screwed Iup to clamp the yoke 21 against the ears 17 but are left out a certain distance, as indicated in 2 and 7, so that the electrical device is loosely mounted in .the box and may have limited movements in or out, that is, in the direction normal to the plane of the wall. The inward movement, of course, will be limited by the yoke engaging the edge or the ears 1710i the box and the outward movement'will be limited by the yoke engaging he heads of the screws 22, the yoke being guided in this movement by the screws. The screws are adjusted so that lwhen the device is pulled outwardly to the limit of its outward movement as determined b the heads of these screws the device will be 1n the proper position relative to the vface of the wall.

The electrical device is secured and' held in l this position' by means of a supporting plate 23 and screws 24. This platg is of asize to rest against the outer surface 25 of the wall and has countersunk openings 26 for the screws 24 which are threaded into the yolic 21. The plate is also provided with openings 27 to give access to the screws 22 to allow for adjustment of these screws and thus adjust the position of the electricaldevice within the outlet box. After the electrical device has been loosely mounted in the outlet box as above described the plate 2'3 is placed against the surface of the wall, and, in the case of the receptable shown, with the extension 28 extending into the opening 29 in the plate. The screws 24 are then tightened up to draw the yoke and the electrical device outwardly the limit of the movement permitted by the screws 22, as shown in Fig. 2. It will be apparent that in this position the screws 24 in the supporting plate draw the yoke 21 tightly against the under side of the heads of the screws 22 and thus securely fasten the whole device in the position desired. It will also be apparent that by adjusting the screws 22 and 24 the electrical device may be easily and quickly adjusted to the proper position Y with respect to the surface of the wall and vthen clamped in that position.

The supporting plate 23 is also provided with a plurality of openings 30 which are preferably rectangular as shown. These openings are arranged in pairs, in the present instance, two pairs being shown, and they coact with spring clips 31 mounted on the rear side of the cover or finishing plate 32 to detachably mount the same in position over the supporting plate and the opening in the wall to give the desired finished appearance. The spring clips 31 in the form shown in the drawings are of flat sheet metal having a foot\ 33 secured to the cover plate by suitable means, as a rivet 34. The clip is bent laterally to substantially U-shape, as shown in Fig` 5, with the open side toward the plate, and the sides of this U-portion are also preferably bowed outwardly to give a stronger holding effect with the plate. The clips are arranged in pairs to correspond with the openings 30 in the supporting plate and the clips of each pair are arranged in reversed relation so that, for instance the left hand pair as shown in Fig. 3, are arranged with the free portion 35 of each clip extending toward the other clip. They are so arranged that when the cover plate is placed over the supporting plate with the inner ends of the clips in the openings 30, a pressure against the outer surface of this plate to force it toward the surface of the wall will cause the bow in the free portions'35 of the clips to'ride over the edge of the opening 30 and force this yfree end in a short distance against the resiliency of the clip, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 5. The spring action of the clip coacting with the curved surface of this bowed portion of the clip will then react ent that this means of mounting the plate is not visible on the outer surface of the plate so that there is nothing to mar the appearance of the surface and the plate may be mounted without requiringl the use of any tools.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that this mounting is very simple in construction, that the electrical device may be loosely mounted in the outlet box and connected to the wiring system and left in this condition until the man to perform the iinishing operations places the supporting plate in position, and then the electrical device may be adjusted to the proper position and securely clamped in this position by manipulation of the screws 22 and 24, which is a very simple operation and easily performed. After the wall surface has been completed the cover plate may be easily and quickly applied without requiring the use of any tools whatever.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an 'electric wall ap liance a supporting plate having a pair of) spaced openings therethrough, means for mounting said plate substantially parallel to the face of the wall, a cover plate over the supporting plate, and a pair of spring clips on the rear of the cover plate having outwardly bowed portions spaced to correspond with the spacing of said openings and arranged with their open sides toward`the plate, the closed end of each of said bowed portions being arranged to pass through an opening in the supporting plate and engage a side of the opening to secure the cover plate to the supporting plate.

2. In an electric wall appliance, a supporting plate having a pair of spaced openings therethrough, means for mountin said late substant-ially parallel with the face o the wall, a cover plate over the supporting plate and substantially parallel therewith, and a pair of spring clips secured to the rear wall of the cover plate and spaced to correspond with the spacing of said openings, each clip having a bowed portion arranged to engage a side edge of one of said openings at one side of the bow so that the reaction of the bow and the side of the opening will tend to d'aw the cover plate toward the supporting p ate.

3. In an electric wall appliance, a supporting plate having a pair of spaced openings, means for mounting said plate substantially parallel with thev face of thev wall, a cover plate over the supporting plate, a pair of spring clips on the rear wall of the cover plate including bowed portions spaced to corres ond with the spacing of said openings an arranged with their open sides toward theplate and having one leg secured to the 5 plate and the other leg free to move in the lane of the plate, said movable legs being bowed outwardly, the bowed portion of one clip being arranged to engage a side of one of said openings and the bow of the other o clip being arranged to engage the opposite side of the other opening to secure the cover plate to the supporting plate.

4. In an electric wall appliance, a supporting plate provided with a pair of spaced l5 openln therethrough, means for mounting said p ate substantially parallel with the face of the wall, a vcover plate over the supporting plate, and a pair of outwardly bowed spring clips s aced to correspond with the o spacing of sai openings and with their open 4 sides toward the cover plate, each clip having one leg secured to the cover plate and the other leg free to move toward and from the first leg, said movable leg-being bowed outy wardly from the first leg and-arranged to engage the side of an opening inwardly of the widest part of the bow to secure the cover plate to the supportingplate.

5. In an electric wall appliance, a cover plate, a pair of spaced, outwardly bowed spring clips on the rear wall of said plate and each providing a pair of laterally spaced legs, said clips being arranged w1th their open sides toward the plate and extending 35 outwardly from the plate with one leg ofeach clip secured t0 the plate and the other leg bowed outwardly from the first leg with its free end extending toward the plate and movable in the plane of theJ plate, the movfable legs of the two clips being extended in opposite directions from their respective secured legs.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

HARVEY HUBBELL. 

